I really like colors, usually

Post # 147
I saw these 99 cent crazy straw cups at Walmart and had to have them for my grandkids.  I love the colors.  Colors just make me happy.  Except I was  not happy tonight when I saw a little green worm crawling on my arm.  Since this is day 49 of 100+ weather I have not been out in the yard....where in the heck did it come from?  My daughter had come over to have dinner with me and we were watching a movie.  Here I was sprawled out on the couch with my plate of food, screamed when I felt that 2" lettuce green worm on my arm just as I swallowed a bite of the salad I had just made and thinking it was the same color as the lettuce..... 

72 Hour Kit

Post # 146
I feel so sorry for all those people who reside on the east coast.  I can not even imagine that many people needing to evacuate and one of the first things I thought of was....I have never been to New York but I know New Yorkers most often do not own a car.  So, what on earth do they do when they need to evacuate and they have pets???  I can't imagine going off and leaving your pets behind.....I remember how horrible that was for victims of hurricane Katrina.  A few posts back I told you about my dogs' 72 hour kit   (July12, 2011  post # 107   My dogs' backpack).   As long as I can remember my church has counseled us to have a 72 hour kit ready at all times (for people). In my part of the world we have had wild fires at least weekly, if not daily this summer in the Texas panhandle...had 2 just outside of town today in fact.  Everything is so dry and the wind blows like crazy here and a wild fire can consume acres quickly.  Over 80 families in my area lost their homes to grass fires in one day this summer. We also live in tornado alley. A neighboring town had to evacuate an area when an underground natural gas pipeline exploded. You just never know when you will need that 72 hour kit. For me medications are essential so make sure you have at least of 3 days prescription medication in your backpack or purse (when you get a prescription refilled take this 3 day supply out to use and replace it with a fresh 3 day supply).  Before an emergency happens in your area prepare a backpack for each person in your family now so it is ready... Now that school has started places will have backpacks marked down pretty soon. Anyway, I suggest a washcloth in a ziplock bag (actually everything in its own ziplock bag so if something leaks everything isn't ruined), socks, an old pair of shoes (I'm thinking if you were in a flood with your shoes sopping wet and you were cold you would welcome anything else to put on your feet), hooded sweatshirt jacket, an old t-shirt and sweatpants (if your emergency is in hot weather you can always cut them off), underwear, travel size hand soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, hand sanitizer, deodorant, comb, brush, shampoo, hand towel, lotion, pen or pencil and pad of paper, list of phone #'s in case your cell doesn't work, some cash (ATMs might not have power), small first aid kit or at least bandaids & antibiotic ointment, a pain reliever, tampons or pads, flashlight, a roll ( or partial roll) of toilet tissue. If you have room for a small blanket and travel size or inflatable pillow stick it in there too.   Just think about what you would wish you had if you had to evacuate and stay in a shelter of some kind for a couple of days.  Pony tail holders, a small pair of scissors, playing cards?  Just remember not too heavy, each person needs to be able to carry their own backpack. What else do you have in your 72 hour kit?    and if you think of something else for my dogs' backpack please let me know.

Taylor is 9 months old today

Post # 145

That is me up there with my granddaughter...I took this with one hand while holding Taylor with the other...didn't really intend to get me in there.  She is chewing on the very hungry caterpillar.  We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar about a dozen times today. 

Our routine is -- I get to my son and daughter-in-law's home about 7:15 a.m. and when Taylor wakes up I rock her with a bottle for a bit, we play toys, eat breakfast then I give her a bath.  This is how long her hair is before it dries.    By 9:45 a.m. she is ready for a nap so we get in the stroller and walk around the block a few times.



That is the only way I can get her to sleep.  She naps anywhere from 30 min to an hour and a half then when she wakes up she is ready to play!

She has learned how to pull herself up and stand up in bed.  She will be climbing over the side next I am afraid.... her daddy did when he was little!This is Taylor being "the dancing baby."  Whenever she hears music she shakes her body and shakes her head. 

She has been crawling all week but what she would really like to do is figure out how to stand up and walk.

I just love those eyelashes.

and I love the dimples in Taylor's baby hand.

Becky brought me lunch and Taylor gave her not one but two kisses!  She is pretty stingy with those kisses so two at one time was something!

No Post Thursday

There was no post Thursday because I came home from babysitting and did nuthin'!  Casey came over about 9 a.m. to help me with Taylor because I was so dizzy and felt awful.  Don't know what that was...going off my prescription meds withdrawals, lack of eating real food because it is just too hot to cook, dehyration ar all of the above.   By 6:30 p.m. I was in bed ASLEEP and I slept til the alarm went off this morning at 6:30 a.m.  I had been dozing in my chair and finally told the dogs lets just go to bed.  I can not even imagine when I have slept 12 hrs straight but it has been awhile.  I felt absolutely wonderful when I woke up this morning! So, this is what it is like to be well rested?!!  For a very long time I have had insomnia and slept maybe 3 hours a night.  Well, let me tell you, I highly recommend sleep.  It does a body good. :)

Rained all around me

Post # 143   OK, I am starting to take this personally now.  Tonight it rained north of me and south of me...in my city...but not at my house!  Other than that I don't have anything to share, well other than I watched the first little bit of David Letterman and I just have to say, that Ashton Kutcher, who is a year older than my oldest child, is just a cutie patootie! Oh, and while Taylor took a nap this morning I watched a little bit of Hoda and Kathie Lee where Kathie Lee told us she was born in 1953, she weighed 104 when she got married and now---OMG--which to me means oh my gosh---she weighs 124.  I was born in 1954, weighed 110 when I got married and I weigh, well, wayyy considerably more than that (OK, 193) and if I weighed 124 I would be ecstatic! I would be celebrating with Dr Pepper and a big bowl of ice cream! Wait, that is how I got to be 193 lbs. Oh great, now I have told you how much I weigh and I have no more secrets to share. 

We are in trouble now!

Post # 142

       I didn't see Taylor for 4 days and she cut two upper teeth, learned to say da-da  and she starting crawling today.  When her Momma came home from work she crawled right over to her.  I wasn't there...darn, it was on Casey's time to babysit but I am glad she got to see Taylor's first time to crawl. Brent and Kali have no idea how many things she will be able to get into now! but it is exciting to see her learn new things.
   I think the heat is getting to my dogs.  It has been so hot this summer they don't want to go outside and play.  All afternoon they took turns coming up and pawing me as they have been doing for a week or two and I just don't know what they want.  Bless their hearts, they would pat me with their paws, look at me with the saddest puppy dog eyes like they were trying to tell me something.  They have food, water, a doggie door, dog biscuits, toys, each other but I think they are just plain bored.  Usually when we go to bed around 10 p.m. it is still 90 degrees outside and this is day 44 of 100 degree or higher daytime temperatures.  I don't think I have ever looked forward to winter like I am now.  I watched a rerun of NCIS tonight.  It was Christmas time, it was snowing, it looked heavenly. The dogs will love it when it snows too. 

Feeding hungry cats and dogs

Post # 141

Max ~ he thinks he is human
and likes to sit on the swing outside
while overseeing his kingdom

 I just love animals.  I don't have a cat because my daughter is allergic, I don't have farm animals because I can't afford to care for them, I don't have llamas or alpacas for the same reason, but I wish I did.  However, I have my 3 dogs and right now one of my granddogs lives with me.  My fence is chain link so anyone driving down our street can see that I have a small pack of dogs and I think my neighbors must think of me as the crazy dog lady because if a stray dog is spotted in the neighborhood they often stop and ask "is that your dog?" My niece, one of my son's and I really wish we could have a dog ranch where every stray dog could have a home, plenty to eat, never fight or make babies, just live a happy life.  Since that is not a reasonable goal the 3 of us just do what we can.  My niece carries dog food in her SUV so she can feed stray dogs she may come upon.  When a stray dog is on my street I set out food, water and call the number on their tag if they have one. I have just added freekibble banners on my blog.  If click on them or if you go to freekibble.com you can answer a trivia question and no matter if your answer is right or wrong a sponsor donates kibbles to shelters.  It was founded by an 11 year old girl and as of last month had donations of over 400 tons of kibble for rescue shelters and food banks ... read their "about" post if you are interested.  Pretty amazing what an 11 year old started.  

Gracie ~ got her as an adult dog
weighing 6 lbs and in this photo she
now weighs 15 lbs.  She was almost
starved to death.


P.S.  If you want to bring an animal into your family please check with your local SPCA, shelter or rescues.  My white schnauzer and my black schnauzer were both "throw away dogs" and they are as precious as can be.  I often wonder what their story was, before they became my babies. Gracie was 3/4 dead and at the dog pound...we got her on her last day before they would put her down.  Max was just a baby that someone got tired of real quick and wanted to get rid of him.  He is the best dog ever.

Pushing at the edge of my comfort zone ~ Post # 140

The grocery store. CVS. Target. I can go into these 3 places without too much of a problem, most days.  I have to plan the time of day I want to go.  I want to go when I think the fewest number of people will be there.  I look at the CVS ad online and if they have things on sale that I need I make a list and I dash in and out. Target is one of my favorite stores and I get my prescriptions there.  Sometimes I just zip right over to the pharmacy and zip out but sometimes, if the store is not too busy I can look around.  If I want to buy something from the Target store I do that shopping first and I then go to the pharmacy and I can pay for all my purchases there when I pay for my prescriptions.  The pharmacy tech is really nice, I don't know her name yet she is a "safe person." Her kindness is genuine and you can feel it. That keeps me from having to stand in line at the front registers.  Standing in line is difficult for me, people in front of me and people behind me. I feel trapped. Get that I'm having a heart attack feeling.  The grocery store is the easiest if I go when it is not too busy although sometimes I put off a trip to the store for a week or more when I am out of something and not having a good week. Before I became sick I would often go to the store every day.  I haven't been to WalMart in I can't even remember when.  And I haven't been to church or in a library in even longer. They used to be my safest "safe places."   I know this sounds like absolutely nothing but this week I talked to my old boss Cindi and my friend Zetta, both library branch heads. In MY life that is a big enormous deal.  The few times I have talked to people on the phone other than my family or therapist I just get so tension filled I can barely talk.  In person, like at the TX Mental Health Office, I really have a hard time talking, as in I can barely get words out or make sense, between my hearing impairment and anxiety I have a hard time understanding what they say to me, and remembering what I have been told? Hardly. Never unless I remember to ask them to write it down.  It is just crazy considering I use to talk to people constantly and enjoyed it!  A woman I used to work with called to tell me about her brand new baby boy and I couldn't handle talking to her but for a few minutes.  Seeing people in person, just doesn't happen except my therapist and family.  I could easily be a hermit. Anyway, for the past 16 months I have placed holds on books I want online, my daughter would pick them up and I renewed my library items online but I messed up and had some things overdue, requiring a phone call.  If I had asked my daughter to do it for me she would have but she has a bushel full of problems too and did not need anything extra to handle.  Sometimes the little things are just the last straw for us and I have been worried about her anyway.  First I called East Branch Library to renew my items.  I expect the circulation person to answer the phone.  However, Cindi happened to answer.  Not long ago Cindi left me a voicemail saying she thinks of me often and wishes I would come see her.  I really want to.  I have been thinking about going to see her the past couple of weeks since she left that message.  She was probably the best boss I have ever worked for in my 40 years of working.  Anyway, she answers my call to renew my items and we talked for a bit...I had some books being held there for me so I told her my daughter would come pick them up the next day and then, it was so nice (and stressful, nerve racking, scary-for-no-reason yet nice) to just talk to Cindi, I decided I would go get the books myself.  I asked if any big events would be going on there the next day, programs, classes, book club, library meetings.  No, nothing would be going on.  OK fine I told her I think I can handle it, I will try to come.  I told her after I heard the voicemail she left for me I really wanted to see her and had told my therapist my goal was to be able to go in and see Cindi by Christmas. Cindi laughed and said well come in tomorrow!  The Carol she knows was comfortable talking to any body, comfortable doing programs in front of 300 people, giving workshops, going to schools to do book talks.   I wish I were still that Carol but right now the depression, anxiety and agoraphobia have too much power over me.  Even though I really enjoyed talking to Cindi for like a minute and a half by the time I was ready to end the call tears were rolling down my face just from the stress. Later in the day, I checked online and Cindi hadn't renewed my items yet and I didn't feel up to another conversation with anyone so I called another library where I don't know most of the staff.  This time Zetta answered....the odds of two branch heads being the one to answer the phones is slim.  I love Zetta to pieces, she asks me to come in a see her sometime, I tell her I am going to some day soon. She is praying for me. Hung up. Had a little cry. The next day I just couldn't go in to get my books at East Branch though.  My daughter went for me. This week I also had to take a form into the mental health place...I have had it at least a month and just haven't been able to make myself go but I am down to 7 pills and need them to see me and call in my prescriptions so I went.  That multiplied my stress level by about a thousand. That place is just scary, nerve racking, makes me claustrophobic. You have to go through this maze of cubicles with no windows to get where you need to go.  It feels just like a rat in a maze. I just don't like it.  I was so shook up, scared, shaking inside and out, anxiety filled that I didn't recognize the woman who came to the window to help me.  After she led me through the maze to her office and she asked a few questions she said didn't you use to work at the library? Weren't we neighbors? and I told her yes, but I still didn't recognize her until she said she was William's mom.  It was such a relief to know who she was, to feel like I had a friend there but I felt bad that I didn't recognize this woman. I had always enjoyed talking to when she came in the library or I ran into her while walking my dog at the apartment complex where we both lived.  I used to talk to her several times a week.  She has a brother who is agoraphobic so I know she understands that I was just mentally somewhere else trying to keep it together enough to not run out of the building and trying to answer her questions while feeling like I am having a heart attack.  For people who don't have these kinds of problems I know it is impossible to understand but it was just so stressful to be in that office for 10 minutes I just went to the car and bawled.  I think I am a long way from the broken person that entered the mental hospital last year though.  This week I had to go to the grocery store, I didn't have a choice, and I was way stressed out anyway, but I did it.  I wasn't able to talk to the checker even though she was chatty so I just nodded alot. This week I also took my son to the hospital for an x-ray.  A hospital is definitely not one of my most comfortable places, and people are everywhere.  I am really uncomfortable with people all around me, but with my son with me I can go and do whatever I have to.  Then after the hospital I took my son to his Dr's office to drop off the disk the x-ray tech gave him. My son was going to be in there for just a minute making an appointment, but it was about 104 outside and my car's a/c is broken so I went in the office with him.  Only one person is in the waiting room ..... my ex-husband.  Are we having fun yet? Between talking to Cindi and Zetta, going to the mental health office, the hospital and Dr's office, and then going to the grocery store I knew I deserved flowers so I got some at the grocery store. This week I was WAY overloaded on seeing people, going places and talking on the phone. Other than babysitting my granddaughter I think I won't leave my house for a month or two.  Maybe until after Christmas.

Yes, these are the same flowers I posted yesterday but
they bring me so much pleasure I wanted to post them again.

Cousins, Clouds, Crawling Post # 139

Tonight Brent, Kali and Taylor came over to have dinner with Becky,
Travis, Mason and me. Taylor's mommy fixed her up so cute. I had the
 lighting all wrong for this photo but her shirt is lilac and white
 checked and she had on little jeans. Her mom had polished her
toenails with purple sparkly nail polish! She loves Mason and Travis.



Taylor is trying to crawl. She can get up on her hands and knees
but doesn't know how to get it in gear and move.





 

These are my guard dogs! Alert and on duty all the time!

We had some clouds this week but didn't get any rain.
 Today was our 41st day this summer to be in the triple digit temperatures.

and I did several things this week to move out of
my agoraphobia comfort zone so I bought
myself some flowers.  Love those $4
grocery store bouquets!

The Help

Post # 138
I read The Help by Kathryn Stockett when it was first published and I absolutely loved it.  I was still working at the library at that time and I sung its praises to many of my patrons and wouldn't leave my coworkers alone until they read it too.  Have you seen the movie?  I will have to wait until it comes out on DVD so I can have the closed captioning but I can hardly wait.  Since the books are always better than the movie versions my daughter wants to see this movie first then read the book so she won't be disappointed with the movie.  Good idea, enjoy the movie but savor the book.
           Interesting trivia from wikipedia.......The Help is Stockett's first novel. It took her five years to complete the book, which was rejected by 60 literary agents before agent Susan Ramer agreed to represent Stockett. The Help has since been published in 35 countries and three languages. As of August 2011, it has sold five million copies and has spent more than a 100 weeks on the The New York Times Best Seller list.

Maine: a Novel

Post # 137      Maine: A Novel by J. Courtney Sullivan
I just finished this book and I loved it.  Dysfunctional family, conflict, problems, siblings that don't get along, 4 strong willed women, lots of secrets, some humor, guilt.   When I got to the last paragraph I thought this can't be the way it ends!!!! and then I realized it was the ONLY way for it to end.  Absolutely perfect.  I just hope we meet some of the characters in another book someday.

Tex-Mex Egg Rolls

Post # 136

Today my daughter Casey,  my grandsons and I made Tex-Mex Egg Rolls.  I looked at about 2 dozen recipes on the internet and then put together our own recipe of what we had on hand and what we like. Since this is only the second time I have fried egg rolls I still don't know what I am doing and got them a little crispy but this is what they look like.  They weren't jaundice yellow...that is just weird lighting or something.

Casey and I thought they were wonderful, my grandsons thought they would gag a maggot but they are 9 and 10.  I fed them leftover chili and leftover 7 layer dip from last night and Casey and I happily ate egg rolls until we were stuffed.  We tried them plain, dipped in sour cream, dipped in picante sauce and dipped in guacamole.  They were all good!  This is what the filling looks like.  I had probably 1 & 1/2 cups left over.  What do you suggest I do with it besides make egg rolls?

And this is what my counter looked like AFTER Casey cleaned up the biggest part of our mess.  Rachel Ray's counter never looks like this.  Notice the jello box? No, I didn't intend to make jello.  When my grandsons got the already opened box of crackers out of the cabinet a box of jello was in there with the remaining crackers.  Things like that just happen at my house.  The crackers nor the jello have anything to do with the egg rolls.  My grandsons just chose to eat chili and crackers instead of these wonderfully delicious egg rolls. If you would like to try them here is what you do....

Buy a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, rinse them off with hot water and put in your crock pot.  Add salt, pepper and water just enough to cover them and turn on the crockpot.  You need to do this the day before you want to make egg rolls or earlier in the day.  When the chicken falls apart when forked remove from the liquid, place on a cutting board and shred. Refrigerate until you are ready to add the remaining ingredients. Alot of the time I cook several packages of chicken breasts all together then when I shred the chicken I divide it into 2 or 3 cup servings and freeze what I don't need to use in casseroles another day. 

Filling

3 cups cooked and shredded chicken breasts

1 cup black beans, drained

1 cup frozen corn straight out of the bag

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper (red bell peppers were $1.99 each,

green bell peppers were 79 cents so I used a green bell pepper but red would

have been pretty)

1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro

1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 - 4.5 oz can of chopped green chilis

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

canola oil for frying

1 package of egg roll wraps

bowl of water for dipping fingers in to seal the egg roll wraps

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Combine everything except the canola oil and egg roll wraps in a large bowl and stir until well blended. 

Follow package directions for constructing egg rolls.  We didn't measure out the filling, we just put what we thought would do in the middle of the egg roll wrap.  We like them pretty plump, I wouldn't skimp on the filling.  Some of ours were a little thin and why I had a cup and a half of filling left over.

Carefully separate the egg roll wraps, they are very thin and easily stick together. 

When you have all your egg rolls made put about 2 to 3 inches of canola oil in a small saucepan and heat.

The oil needs to be really hot so the egg rolls don't just sit it in and soak it up.  Be very careful!  Hot oil spills cause very painful burns. Using tongs gently slide an egg roll into the hot oil. When one side looks done turn it over.  It only takes less than a minute if your oil is hot.  Place on a plate covered in paper towels to obsorb oil.  I used my smallest sauce pan and I could cook 2 egg rolls at a time.  These will be very hot so let them cool a bit before serving.  Eat them plain or dip in sour cream, picante sauce, or guacamole.  Freeze leftover egg rolls. Thaw and warm in a microwave when you are ready to eat them.  Yuck!  I thawed some out for lunch today and freezing was not a good idea. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shredded beef (leftover roast?) would probably be really good too

Some of my favorite things (other than people, animals and plants) part III

Post # 135
I love cloth napkins. I counted the napkins in this basket today....39, all purchased at garage sales, or on sale at Kohls, or at Walmart clearance isle. Why on earth do I need 39? (obviously one must be in the dirty clothes basket) I could not come up with 39 people to have over for a meal if I tried. And my table seats 4 people. That's ok. I use them every day for me. Soft from many washings cotton, or smooth, silky polyester napkins feel so much better than paper napkins and no tree was injured in their creation, to my knowledge. At least one of my children thinks this is sorta bonkers because I eat almost every meal in my big comfy chair since it is just me and the dogs, not at my table. Well, cloth napkins work really well wherever I eat. If I start tying cloth napkins around my dogs' necks when they eat that might be time to wonder about me.

I'm no Paula or Ree

Post # 134
Last week I read a book, How to Bake a Perfect Life, and throughout the story one of the main characters was baking bread.  Ever since I read it I have been wanting to knead bread so, Thursday night about the time I should have been going to bed I decided to start making bread, cinnamon rolls actually.   Yes, it does take about 4 hours for me to make rolls, and it is now 10 p.m., why do you ask? Since it is just as easy to make two batches as one of course I mixed up two bowls at a time.  First of all, the yeast was the best yeast I have ever used. This stuff activated like crazy. I first made bread when I was 18, almost 40 years ago and I have never had yeast this alive.  Once I got to the point where the bread needed to be kneaded it was just awesome. When I was 18 and made that first loaf of bread my mother-in-law told me to knead the bread until it was as smooth as a baby's bottom. This batch of bread was perfect. It was a pleasure to knead, soft and smooth.  Bread heaven! Exactly what I needed, as kneading bread is very stress relieving for me.  Now I am ready to mix up the filling, roll up the dough, slice into rolls and let it rise again.  I melted the oleo on the microwave, packed the brown sugar and stirred in the oleo until it was thick and smooth.  Spooned it all over the bread, wishing I had one of those paint brush tools for spreading butter.  Scattered on raisins and rolled it up.  Sliced them with a butcher knife altho someday I am going to try cutting them with dental floss just to see if it is any easier.  Placed the rolls in the prepared pans (one batch of dough makes 2 pans of rolls).  They are just beautiful! Covered them up with a towel and leave them to rise again. 45 minutes later as I pick up the first pan to place in the oven I realized something.  These cinnamon rolls do not smell like cinnamon.  I forgot to put the cinnamon in with the brown sugar and oleo! At this point they look perfect but raw.  You can't pick up a raw cinnamon roll, unroll it and add some cinnamon I don't think.  That brown sugar/oleo mixture would just go everywhere.  Hmmm.  Can't eat them as dinner rolls with all that brown sugar in the middle.  Only thing I can think to do is sprinkle cinnamon on the tops of the rolls. Then I thought cinnamon by itself is not a pleasant taste to me so I added a sprinkling of white sugar, sort of like making cinnamon toast.  I realized a sprinkling of cinnamon on the tops of the rolls is nothing like the 3 Tablespoons I would have mixed in with the brown sugar. I looked around my kitchen.  I had every bowl, every measuring cup, 2 whisks, 4 beaters and  2 mixers dirty; bags of powdered sugar, brown sugar, flour, the box of raisins, messy rolling pin and flour all over my table, the floor and the counter. Now I wish I had thought to take a picture of the mess.  I thought of all the photos I have seen of Paula Deen, The Pioneer Woman, Rachel Ray and the likes cooking and their kitchens never look like this.  And they probably always remember to put cinnamon in their cinnamon rolls.  If any of you want a recipe for delicious, easy cinnamon rolls just leave a comment, and when you make them don't forget to add all the ingredients!  P. S. I did the second batch right, sent them to work with my son and left some for my daugther-in-law and my other 3 kids.  The two messed up pans of rolls are sitting in my kitchen and really aren't half bad by the time you put the frosting on them or some strawberry jam but not really a cinnamon roll.

We had a thunder storm!

Post # 133
We finally had a little thunder storm!  We are now up to over 2 inches of rain this year!  My little black schnauzer, Gracie, is terrified of thunder so I cancelled my therapy appt and sat down to hold the shaking Gracie.  I hope I was a comfort to her but I don't know, I fell asleep and slept through the entire rain and then some!  But what a welcome rain it was.

Egg roll wrappers

Post # 132
I have a package of egg roll wrappers left over from last week.  What can I use them for other than making egg rolls?

The first week of August...

Post # 131

Taylor's parents got her a hat...it says My First SUV and
has a little red wagon on it



the camera flash made everyone blink, including Max



Gracie went to the groomer



Travis got lovin' from the dogs



Yankee Ingenuity!

Post # 130
After the horror of hearing 35 young men lost their life yesterday in this war, reading this article from Today.com made me think "Yes! FINALLY some good news from that part of the world."  God bless the two men who figured out how to save soldiers with a toy truck.  Absolutely ingenious!  If you can, and you feeled moved to donate to this cause there is a link in the article.  Click on the line below to read the story.
He saved six soldiers’ lives — with a child’s toy

Flake-y?

Post # 129
Why do I have snowflakes on my blog?  Because it is something like day 38 of temperatures over 100 this summer, forecast for next week is 96 to 102, I am sick and tired of this heat, my garden and flowers have all been done in by the heat so the morning glory photo and header is going "back in the Disney vault" until I can actually grow some morning glories and I am moving on to winter whether that is what it is like outside or not.  I hate the color orange so picking out an autumn background doesn't work for me. I wanted to "pretty up" my blog but I didn't want flowers or school buses so I decided to just move right on to snow.  Now that I have explained that, doesn't it feel a bit cooler just looking at this blue background?  And did anyone make those chocolate muffins?  If so, were they awesome enough I should turn on my oven and heat up the house even more to make them?

Triple Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Post # 128  Not really my post.....it is a recipe I saw on another blogger's post and thought you might like to have this recipe too.  So, give credit to Thrifty Mama and bake up some muffins.
Adventures of a Thrifty Mama on a Trailer Park Homestead: Triple Chocolate Zucchini Muffins:
"After all the zucchini recipes I've made this year, I've finally found one that my picky eater can't get enough of! He had no clue that t..."      

Click on "Adventures of...."   It looks like a wonderful recipe from Thrifty Mama and who wouldn't like a chocolate muffin?

Does this make me look green?

Post # 127
Ants give new meaning to 'you are what you eat'   
click on the line above!

Is That a Pig on a Flying Carpet? post # 126

You have to keep in mind that I read every children's picture book purchased by the library for 18 years, along with an equally large number of old titles.  I like almost all children's book illustrations.  In the photo here you may see clouds but I see a pig.  I took this photo standing on my front steps and I took it just because for once this summer we had a few clouds in the sky --- normally it is blinding, glaring, burning hot sun. When I downloaded it and looked again ... why, right there, top left, is one of the three little pigs sitting on his bottom, most likely on a flying carpet!  What do you see?

Just an observation

Yesterday my son and I made homemade egg rolls.  They were good but after we cooked them we decided the recipe had called for too much soy sauce.  I'm not used to all of that salt.  For dinner I went to our local fast food place for their $1.99 Wed. special --- it wasn't as good as the commercial made me think, and the combination of the two in one day was just awful...or else I have caught a tummy bug.  Have you ever noticed that when you feel nauseated it seems like every 5 minutes there is a commercial for some kind of food? And you feel too sick to just turn off the tv and yet if you see one more commercial---well, it will not be pretty.

Patty Cake

Post # 124


Today was a patty cake day



Taylor has learned to do it by herself, thank you



and she decided to do high fives afterwards



Then she played music on this keyboard

She patty caked over and over and over ... until her two aunts & two cousins came over and then no, she was through doing that.  "I do NOT know what you are talking about, Grandma."

We used to have fireworks for Labor Day

Post # 123  August 1st
     We made it through hot, hot July!  I keep reminding my daughter of one September 1st when we wore our new winter coats, and we needed them.  Amarillo used to celebrate Labor Day in the most wonderful way.  We have a beautiful park-- a very large park with 2 huge duck ponds, lots of trees, grass, & a botanical garden across from the hospitals/major medical area part of town.  Medi-Park it is called.  For years on Labor Day night Amarillo Symphony played at the park, coordinated with wonderful fireworks and it was just awesome.  Because parking at the park was very limited, you could leave your car at Target and ride a big red bus to the park.  My kids and I loved it.  It was an extra special time to me because it was fun, free, classical music, gorgeous fireworks and Labor Day was the only holiday I did not have to share my kids with my ex-husband.  It was MY holiday, even better than Christmas for me.  The first year we attended was 1991.  My 4 kids ranged from 5 to just turned 12 and it was the sweetest time.  Before we hit the teenage years.  We packed a quilt, a picnic, and our coats because it was suppose to be a chilly night and we rode the bus to the park.  It was estimated that 40,000 people attended. All afternoon and evening multiple buses ran from Target to the park.  It was pretty chilly when the fireworks were over at 10:30 p.m. so all those people that had ridden the bus over several hours time earlier suddenly wanted to leave the park at the same time.  There were 4 lines and buses just ran in circles...it was only a 4 mile round trip.  I'm not a very pushy person, in fact one of the least pushy of 40,000 people evidently because me and my kids, one of my friends & her kids along with about 10 other people were on the very last big bus out of the park that night, at about midnight.  We were freezing.  I hope this Labor Day evening I am freezing.  Sadly, we do not have that event anymore.  Attendance almost tripled over the years and just got too big for all of us to fit in the park. I was always concerned about the veterans anyway.  The VA Hospital was right there and I wondered if the exploding fireworks in the dark sounded like bombs and war to them.
     I started pulling up the garden plants today and put them in the compost bin.  No point continuing to water them.  The ten day forecast includes 6 days over 100, the coolest day 98 and at best a 10% chance of rain on a few days. I did leave my tomatoes and watermelons.
     I just finished a really good book..... How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal.  It is a life/trials/family/love story.  I like one of the quotes in the book ... "The best smell is bread, the best savour salt, the best love that of children."  Graham Greene
     Remember last week the posts about me getting a letter from the U. S. Census Bureau saying I would get a form to fill out?  I thought it was government waste of time, materials, postage when just receiving the form with that warning on the envelope would have been enough to catch my eye?  I mailed it the day after I received it. Today I got a postcard saying "you should have received...please fill it out and mail it back."  GRRRRRR!  Couldn't they have at least waited to see what addresses did not return the survey????  Like in a month or two?  The letter arrived on 7-27, the form on 7-28 and the postcard on 8-1.